Command Control Console:	RW-768A  LOS Stabilized auto-Tracking dual high cyclic Armament Field demonstration, Wednesday November 26, 2003
This brief report is for the benefit of our DARPA friends who expressed interest in the laptop controller we used during the demonstration. The details of the demonstration will not be discussed here, as much of the material is classfied, and only of interest to a few specific parties. A private page is posted containing that information. If you feel you would benefit, and have proper clearance, then email me for login instructions.

We recently acquired a new laptop PC to use as a remote command control console for one of our robotic weapons field demonstrations. The machine is from  M-Tech Laptops, Inc.   and is configured as follows:   15" TFT UXGA 1600x1200 (1,920,000 pixels) high contrast, super wide-angle display   ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9600 PRO (M10), 128MB DDR  (check the impressive specs!)   †, 3.0GHz, 800MHz FSB   1024 MB DDR PC3200   80GB IDE HDD 2.5"   24XCD-RW/8XDVD Combo Drive   10/100/1000 Ethernet   Secondary Battery   Windows XP Pro  [proprietary interface hardware - classified] The laptop machine, a model 5600XTra, interfaces to our CompanionCube™ CC2, which contains a Ziatech ZT5515e SBC core that provides remote secondary fire solution control. This laptop is one rugged machine!  On the way to install it into the 2003 Hummer H1 for the demo, I tripped and lost my grip on it. I watched with horror as it careened down a rocky slope to a harsh stop about 8 feet below. When I inspected the machine, all appeared intact, despite some pretty bad scratches in the case. But nothing was physically broken, so I powered up and watched with great anticipation as it booted. The machine booted without a problem! During the demonstration, the laptop machine smoothly controlled all aspects of the remote robotics, and proved to be as reliable as it is powerful. The weapons system being shown is new, and is highly classified, therefore I can not provide any details of the various test scenarios. However, I can tell you that I am impressed with all aspects of the model 5600XTra from M-Tech. Performance was beyond my expectation, and system stability has been excellent. Our standard burn-in test runs for 144 hours, during which time the device is subjected to variable intensity vibration, thermal cycling and extensive internal component exercise via software. No failures were recorded. Tests are conducted with the DUT mounted on a Granite fixture driven by a magnetic shaker, inside an environmental test chamber. Running AIDA32 v3.88, I observe the following benchmark results:   [pending subsequent test results] The model 5600XTra is not the typical light-weight laptop: this machine weighs in at 10.60 pounds (2 batteries installed), and measures 13.1" wide, 11.7" front-to-back and 2.6" thick (closed). I do not consider any of those traits to be a problem, as the machine fits nicely in a leather carry-case, and is not so heavy as to cause any inconvenience. For our purpose, the ruggedness and durability are well worth a couple extra pounds. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I pulled the internal disk, replacing it with a clean one, and turned it over to one of my children for the real torture test. With several games installed, and the machine left running 24/7, I fully expected problems. So far, the machine has performed flawlessly. For those of you who are not yet XP believers, this is good testimony not only for the laptop computer, but for XP as well. It is my opinion that this machine is a significant step up in quality and performance over other similar machines tested recently (Compaq, Dell, Gateway and IBM). Posted 29 NOV.03 Addendum:  The machine was placed back in the lab (15:45 30 NOV.03), to run further stress tests again. As of the latest posting there are no failures reported. Posted 04 DEC.03

^†Look for systems with the Intel^® Pentium^® 4 Processor with Hyper-Threading Technology logo. Hyper-Threading Technology requires a computer system with an Intel® Pentium® 4 processor supporting HT Technology and a Hyper-Threading Technology enabled chipset, BIOS and operating system. Performance will vary depending on the specific hardware and software you use. See http://www.intel.com/info/hyperthreading/ for more information including details on which processors support HT Technology.